Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut has accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of becoming a caged parrot and a sham, alleging it of favoring the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In his weekly column ‘Rokthok’ in the Shiv Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamana’, Raut criticized the EC for turning a blind eye to the actions of the BJP and resorting to religious propaganda. He highlighted Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement in Madhya Pradesh, where he promised government-organized tours to the Ram Temple in Ayodhya if the BJP retains power. Raut argued that this was campaigning on religious lines. He further claimed that if such a statement had been made by a Congress leader, the ECI would have taken action. Raut called the act of bribing voters through religious propaganda shocking and detrimental to democracy. He compared the current state of the ECI to the tenure of former chief election commissioner T N Seshan, stating that the EC has become a sham. Raut alleged that the EC’s inaction during the election campaigns in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, and Mizoram has proven that it has become a caged parrot. He also pointed out past incidents where the Shiv Sena faced consequences for similar actions. Raut accused the BJP of managing the ECI and other constitutional bodies in order to fight the Hindutva battle. The Shiv Sena (UBT) has written to the ECI expressing concerns over Shah’s Ram Temple tour promise and has accused the ECI of practicing double standards in favor of the BJP.